MISSOULA — Missoula County has approved the issuance of revenue bonds to reimburse the county for recent improvements to the fairgrounds, including the new rodeo grounds and the Rocky Mountain Gardens and Exploration Center.
Andrew Czorny, the county's chief financial officer, said the two projects were completed for roughly $24.4 million. The work also netted around $5.6 million in contributions.
Czorny said he negotiated a decent rate with Stockman Bank and plans to publicly issue the bonds in the coming months.
“Any issuance over $10 million, I try to go to a public sale,” he said. “In order the facilitate that this year, we had a March 1 deadline to reimburse ourselves for the (Exploration Center) project to keep the issuance tax exempt.”
Czorny said he issued a bond anticipation note and negotiated a one-year term with the bank for 5% and no prepayment penalty. The arrangement gives the county six months to put together a public offering.
“We're not paying a lot of money in interest on the back end, and it has provided us with a level debt service, which is predictable,” Czorny said. “This is also contained within the six mills originally allocated for the fairgrounds, so we were able to keep both of these projects within the six mills.”
The county in 2020 issued the six mills to fund improvements within the Fairgrounds Special District. The mills have been in place ever since and through financial negotiations, the county has held the costs to within the mills.
In other words, the county said, there is no tax increase related to the new bond.
“It's basically under budget,” said county Commissioner Josh Slotnick. “We were able to meet the debt service with the money we set aside. It looks really good.”
